Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China, H.E. Yu Dunhai has assured the Nigerian Government of his country’s continue support in alleviating poverty.
Ambassador Dunhai disclosed this in Abuja at a strategic stakeholders’ workshop organised by the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DICAN) under the theme: “Nigeria’s Poverty Alleviation Efforts: Adopting China Modules and Its Relevance in a New Era – The Place of Policy Makers, Development Partners and Diplomatic Reporters.”
Represented by the Counselor of the Embassy’s Economic and Commercial Office, Sun Xuekun, the Ambassador said China has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty since the country’s reform and opening-up policies began in 1978.
He said the achievement accounted for more than 70 per cent of global poverty reduction and transformed China from one of the world’s poorest countries into a major contributor to global poverty alleviation efforts.
According to him, nearly 100 million rural residents remained below the poverty line at the end of 2012, but all had been lifted out of poverty by the end of 2020. During that period, China removed 98.99 million rural residents, 832 impoverished counties and 128,000 impoverished villages from poverty status.
Ambassador Yu Dunhai, said China eradicated absolute poverty and achieved the poverty reduction target under the United Nations 2030 Agenda ten years ahead of schedule.
He attributed the success to strong government leadership, targeted poverty alleviation policies and sustained economic development.
The Ambassador said the Chinese government invested nearly 1.6 trillion yuan in special poverty alleviation funds and deployed more than three million officials and village work-team members to support poverty reduction efforts.
He explained that China shifted from broad poverty relief programmes to targeted interventions based on detailed assessments of households and communities.
These measures included industrial development, relocation from inhospitable areas, educational support, ecological compensation programmes and expanded social protection.
The Chinese Ambassador also highlighted the role of infrastructure investments in roads, drinking water, electricity, telecommunications, education and healthcare in addressing the root causes of poverty.
According to him, China has also introduced measures to prevent people from falling back into poverty, including a five-year transition period and strengthened monitoring and assistance systems.
